Lise Davidsen

With a population of just 339,000, it’s remarkable that Iceland manages to support, successfully, its own opera company in which (apart from the occasional overseas guest) all the singers including the chorus are homegrown – and of a very high standard.

Lise Davidsen is a phenomenon in today’s opera world. Her voice, generous, powerful, warm and clear-edged, is tailor-made for the German Romantic repertoire and she is already becoming the go-to Wagnerian soprano of her generation. Opera Now met her in London as she was looking forward to a busy season

For most singers, there will come a time when serious choices have to be made between their career and their family life. Canadian soprano Layla Claire finds herself lucky to have a successful career at a time when having children carries less of the stigma that it once had in the opera world

When Greek National Opera hurried over to its state-of-the-art new home in Athens, the company’s boss Giorgos Koumendakis demonstrated how a heartfelt artistic vision combined with a deep spiritual drive could help restructure and propel the company to international success

1945-2019

A new opera by David Stanhope

In the historic Italian city of Ravenna, a celebrated conductor puts a new generation of hopefuls through their paces. Opera Now was on hand to observe a masterclass with Riccardo Muti

Philipp Kochheim has brought fresh vision and energy since he arrived at Danish National Opera in 2017 with a mission to overturn convention

A treasure trove of 19th-century Italian opera, the Ricordi Archive is on a mission to bring its collection to a much wider public. Opera Now went to Milan to find out how new light is being shone on some of opera’s greatest works

They called it crazy and said it couldn’t be done. But general manager of Nevill Holt Opera Rosenna East set out to prove otherwise as she embarked at full tilt on the creation of an award-winning opera house in the Leicestershire countryside in just 23 months

Great escape

Who says that opera cannot be topical or relevant? It is enough, surely, to mention John Adams or Michael Tippett to see how mistaken that is. But here is something equally striking: an opera written 60 years ago which is even more topical now than when it was composed

Frank Castorf was artistic director of the Berlin Volksbühne for 25 years. During this time he staged opera in a number of theatres, including a highly controversial Ring in Bayreuth. He had, however, never staged an opera in Berlin, until he was invited by the Deutsche Oper to launch its 2019/20 season

Halévy